BBC to cut 550 jobs in cost-saving drive, including news division layoffs

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Britain's BBC public service broadcaster will cut 550 jobs, including in its news and content divisions, it said on Wednesday, as part of plans under new director-general Matt Brittin to save £500 million over the next three years.

The BBC is facing a battle to stay relevant as viewers, particularly younger audiences, shift to streamers and other digital platforms.

In March, the corporation named former Google executive Brittin as its new director general. At the time, BBC Chair Samir Shah said there was a need for radical reform at the publicly funded organisation, and Brittin said it faced a moment of "real risk".

The cuts to its news operation will include closing some long-running programmes, merging production teams across shows and a review of senior on-air roles.

The BBC, which had about 21,500 employees as of March last year, said the full package of changes announced on Wednesday would deliver around £160 million of the £500 million target. Further savings, including cuts of around 700 corporate division jobs, would be announced in the coming months, it said.

Total job losses would be around 1,800 to 2,000 over the next three years.

Brittin must negotiate a new funding settlement after the broadcaster's Royal Charter expires at the end of 2027. Options include retaining the licence fee paid by TV-watching households or moving to subscriptions or funding from advertising.

(Reporting by William James; Writing by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Alison Williams and Alex Richardson)